Mom
by A853
Summary: Jade remembers various moments in Lian's life. In but in each of those moments one word stood out and it was a word that had defined her feelings towards her daughter. Just some Jade/Lian love. Two shot
1. Chapter 1

Mom (The early years)

_First words_

The first time Jade had heard it, she was going to change baby Lian's diaper. At this time Lian was only 9 months old. The two had spent the day at home as Roy was busy with League duties since rejoining a few months back. She felt odd about the sudden sense of normality in her life. Seeing Roy much more often, spending the mornings as a family. It was difficult to adjust to but deep down, she was happy to give Lian what she never had with her parents.

It was two in the afternoon and Lian had been taking her usual nap around this time. Jade had gone to check on her to make sure that she was alright. Her history as a Shadow had made her a tiny bit paranoid when it came to her daughter's safety. Lian stared at her mother in awe from the safety of her crib. In that moment, Jade had remembered something that her mother had told her not long ago.

_In the eyes of a child, the mother is god..._Paula's words echoed in her mind.

"What are you doing up?" Jade smiled as she reached for Lian.

Lian put up her hands as her mother picked her up. She gave Jade a skeptical look that reminded her of Roy when he disapproves of something. Except when Lian did it, it mean something totally different. Jade had smelled an awful stench.

"I think I'd rather be fighting Manta's men than being here right now." Jade wrinkled her nose at the smell. "No more peas for you..."

As she pulled out Lian's diapers and changed her with the swiftest of movements, she noticed the Lian's eyes were fixed upon her.

"What is it my little archer?" Jade cooed.

"Mama..." Lian pointed at her.

_She just..._Jade was shocked.

Jade's heart ached. But not with pain but rather extreme delight. Tears had formed in the corner of her eyes and she was glad that Roy wasn't around to see her moment of what she considered weakness.

_Wanting to be a hero_

The next moment was when Lian was ten. Jade and Roy were taking Lian to the new Hall of Justice to see the new exhibit featuring the great "Red Arrow". Roy was talking about it for awhile and Lian refused to sleep the night before believing that if she wasn't up early enough to wake her parents then they wouldn't be able to make the trip. She had her hair in a ponytail similar to her favorite aunt Artemis and wore a Green Arrow t-shirt thanks to "Grandpa Ollie".

As they walked through the Hall, Jade noticed that the new Hall wasn't any different. The new Hall of Justice had looked similar to the old one just with some technological enhancements. They arrived to the Red Arrow exhibit. There was a hologram of Red Arrow in his early days. One of his bows was on display as well as his old "Speedy" hat. Jade scoffed at his display thinking that it was nothing much just to mess with Roy. However Lian marveled at the hologram of her father on display.

"Look! It's Da-I mean Red Arrow!" She quickly corrected herself. She knew that everything had to stay secret for the safety of her and her parents.

"He does look good. Quite handsome." Jade mused.

"Well...You guys are making me blush." Roy chuckled. He had become much more light hearted over the years and Jade had grown fond of easygoing Roy.

"Buuut...We all know who the true beauty here is." Jade posed next to Roy showing her still perfect form after all these years.

"Duh, Mom. It me!" Lian jumped in between them making a pose similar to her mother's.

Roy sighed shaking his head in disbelief. "You definitely have your mother's ego."

After they had spent the day at the Hall. The trio were going to spend the day with Grandpa Ollie and Grandma Dinah to which Dinah hated by the way but never said so around Lian.

As they drove off the heard the one thing that they hoped to never hear.

"Dad, could you teach me to be a hero like you?" Lian asked.

Roy suddenly stopped the car and Jade gave him a look of concern.

"What makes you want to be a hero?" Roy calmly asked.

"I want to be like you and Auntie Artemis. I want to be an archer." Lian quipped.

There was no way Jade was going to allow her daughter to live such a dangerous life. She finally knew how her mother felt towards Artemis but deep in her heart she knew Lian would eventually walk the path. The little girl was adept in gymnastics just like her mother. Her innate accuracy was from her father. She couldn't say yes but she couldn't say no either. Then Roy said something that would make her mad for weeks.

"Ask your mother..." Roy replied.

_How dare he? _Jade looked at him wide eyed. She didn't want to deny Lian but didn't want to agree to her husband training their ten year old to catch criminals either. Roy had easily gotten out of the situation and he would easily end up on the couch that night as well.

"So can I Mom?" Lian asked after several moments of silence. Jade hadn't answered and she would purposely stay quiet on the subject for a long time. The longer Lian wasn't wearing a mask and shooting arrows, the better.

**A/N So I came up with this on the spot and ran with it. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I did the characters justice. I wanted to show that Jade had a protective side like her mother. It'll probably become a two shot as we need to get to teen Lian and adult Lian. Please review xD**


	2. Chapter 2

_First Heartbreak _

Jade had wished this moment never came. Lian was now 15. She had joined the Team much her mother's dismay. She had taken her mother's old alias, Cheshire and instead of learning the bow like she thought Lian would, she took up the Sai once she learned of her mother's old life.

It was after a serious mission. Lian and the newest Robin, Damien had been dating for a long while. He was 17, she was 15. Not far apart in age. Damien was cold and calculating but deep down cared for her daughter and that was all that mattered. However Damien was dead, killed by an older clone of himself called Heretic while protecting Lian on a mission.

Roy didn't know what to do and Cheshire told him many times that"he's missing his target" when it came to consoling their daughter. Lian had lied on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. Jade's heart ached to see her daughter so broken. She hadn't eaten nor slept. She just wept for her lost love. Jade knocked softly as she stepped through the door.

"May I?" Jade smiled as she entered.

Lian looked up at her mother. Eyes red and baggy from days without sleep

"Let's talk." Jade sat next to her daughter.

"I don't want to..." Lian looked away. She had become tough like her mother and inherited her father's stubborn personality. This was going to be tough.

"You know you're my little Cọp cai (Tigress)" She said in Vietnamese.

The old Jade would have never been so gentle and sweet. The old Jade would have told her that death happens and to move on with strength. But Jade was older and wiser. She knew she would need a softer approach and her daughter was her whole world, she had to approach this gently.

"Mom...I miss him..." She cried.

"I know..." Jade had held her daughter close.

"You know...I almost lost your father once..." Jade went into the details of Roy being a clone. His effortless search to find the real Roy Harper. How it almost destroyed his body. She left out Roy's drug addiction. She didn't want her daughter to think any less of her father.

"When I had you, it made me realize that...i needed him. Sure he was stubborn and I wasn't willing to settle but all of that changed when I saw him hold you for the first time. I couldn't lose him. Without your father I wouldn't have made the life I have now...I owe him more than he knows."

Lian listened with interest. She enjoyed listening to her mother speak of her father so fondly even if she denied it in front of him.

"Damien loved you. But he died doing what he loved and he loved protecting you. He felt we wouldn't forgive him if he let something happen to you. Damien is always with you...never forget that. Use his sacrifice to honor him. Be the best Cheshire you can be and be the best Lian...for him."

Lian sobbed as Jade held her. It would take some time but Lian would heal and become stronger than before.

"Mom?" Lian looked at her mother fondly.

"Yes dear?"

"You didn't close the door. I think dad was listening."

Lian's door shut quickly and Roy was heard walking down the hallway. Jade cursed herself for allowing Roy to hear such sentiment from her.

"I love you, Mom..." Lian said as she finally fell asleep on her mother's lap.

"I love you too, little Cọp cai."

_Later that night..._

Jade had entered her bedroom, exhausted from consoling her daughter.

"How'd it go?" Roy looked up from reading a book.

"Oh, I know you were listening." Jade replied.

"So that's how you feel about me?" Roy smiled.

Jade blushed slightly and looked away, pretending not to care.

"Don't get ahead of yourself...dear." She smiled playfully.

"I think you've hit the mark when it comes to Lian. Never thought I'd see you so...sweet." Roy replied coyly.

"I'll show you how bad sweet can be!" Jade jumped on top of her husband and they both celebrated Jade's success with Lian. Jade knew there would be many more trials ahead but she always knew she would find strength when Lian called her "Mom."

**A/N I was going to do a section of Lian getting married but I wasn't sure of who I could pair her with and I felt this was getting pretty long. I used Damien since he wasn't yet established and I could use those ages since at the end of Invasion, Tim was a little younger. I had used Damien's death from the reboot as a down point in Lian's life to show how Jade would deal with that kind of situation. Hope you enjoyed it. R&R xD**


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